Wolves do kill cattle. The real
question is "why don't they kill more of them?"

August 27, 2001,
additions Aug. 31

We all know that wolves sometimes kill cattle, especially
calves, but they don't kill very many.

Since the wolf restoration began in central Idaho and the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1995, 65 cattle were confirmed to have been
killed by wolves (as of the end of 2000). An additional 83 cattle were
confirmed killed in the NW Montana recovery between 1987 and the end of
2000).

It is known that there are also unconfirmed losses, which we
can generously say "one additional lost for every one confirmed."
This number is trivial. If this number of cattle were lost over a 6 year
period to some other cause (unless it was mad cow disease), it wouldn't be a
story in any news media.

Nevertheless, in the last 6 years there was been numerous
headlines, "Wolf attacks on cattle increase," or "Wolves are
growing fond of beef."

It is my view that wolves don't kill many cows because they
rarely see cattle as prey, and they don't know how to kill them. If the did
see cattle as prey, there would tens of thousands of cattle dead by now, not a
couple hundred.

I spend most of every summer exploring the backcountry, in my
truck and afoot. Unless I am in an unusual place like Yellowstone Park, by far
the most easily found large animal is a cow. I assume that wolves are better
at finding other animals than I am. If they wanted to kill cattle, their
search time would be short indeed.

In the last couple weeks there have been a couple minor wolf
"depredations" of cattle which I haven't bothered to report. The
Wildhorse Pack killed a calf near Copper Basin, Idaho (near Fox Creek, which
upon inspection should be renamed "Cow Pie Creek"). Photos of Fox
Creek this August, just after the cattle left.

The Absaroka Pack killed 2 calves in the Absaroka Mountains,
NW of Cody. I have heard, but not confirmed, that the Gros Ventre Pack in
Wyoming killed a calf.

Copper Basin, Idaho, is a perfect example of the validity of
my hypothesis. Copper Basin is a large mountain valley very similar to Lamar
Valley in geology, elevation, and habitat type. The difference is the Lamar
has no cattle. Copper Basin has been grazed hard for a hundred years. You
can't go anywhere in Copper Basin in summer (and generally in the surrounding
Pioneer and White Knob Mountains) without encountering cows, and quickly so.

Many folks know that my spouse Jackie and I are authors of Hiking
Idaho. We will have 103 hikes in the new edition, and a number of hikes in
the Pioneers Mountains, but not in the cattle country part. Cows range from
Copper Basin to the treeline, and then beyond to the rock line. Cattle graze
the moss on the rocky shores of Goat Lake, the highest in Idaho. These cow
trashed areas are not worth being in a hiking guide, despite the high,
stunning peaks.

My point is there are cows, and cows, everywhere. There is
also a wolf pack -- the Wildhorse Pack. The pack has killed one calf in the
two years of its existence from among the thousands of cattle that come to the
area and stay, and stay. Thus, it is obvious the wolves don't regard cattle as
much of an opportunity for a meal.

Dr. Doug Smith, head of the Yellowstone wolf project, told me
his hypothesis why so few cattle are killed -- cows don't act like prey.

If a large grazing animal, such as an elk, stands its ground
against wolves, the chances of a successful attack are low. If the wolves
don't already have experience killing that animal, they tend to ignore it,
especially if it shows no reaction to their presence.

Cows don't act like prey. Cows usually react to wolves with
the same indifference they react to your rig as it comes upon them on a
backcountry road. The cows stand and look at you, and grudgingly move as your
bumper brushes by them. Early in season, however, the calves run a bit, and if
you are in an enclosed space (such as a narrow road with steep side slopes)
the cows will run down the road in front of your vehicle.

Wolves naturally are interested in animals that run from them.
Wolves try to set elk running, for example, to look for those individuals that
look vulnerable. Cattle usually don't run from wolves any more than they run
when you drive up to them on a backcountry road.

Smith told me of watching the Chief Joseph Pack going through
cattle in Tom Miner Basin, one of the pack's favorite locations outside
Yellowstone Park, and where they have clearly been more interested in killing
guard dogs than livestock. Smith said the wolves would trot up to a cow, and
the cow did nothing but stare at them. I call it that blank, indifferent
bovine stare. The wolves would then just trot on.

I suspect the few losses that do take place are skittish
calves that get separated from the herd, and which do run, sometimes
attracting the wolves' interest and pursuit.

Secondly, Smith said that wolves have a hard time figuring out
where to grab a cow because cows are so fat. Unlike elk, the legs and
the neck are too thick. The few times an adult cow is killed, the wolves
attack the "webbing" where the cow's legs attach to the abdomen. The
wolves often bite and chew here until the cow goes down. This method is both
inefficient and bloody, and it occurs to me that happily for that class
of ranchers who want to make an issue out it, it provides an occasional
wonderful photo of gore to distribute to the media. When the wolves are
through chewing the cow down, it may look almost like hamburger. I guess there
is some irony there.

Additions 8-31-2001. Seems
like folks were stimulated by this article, and I have received email. So,
a couple additions and corrections . . .

First, I have learned that USFWS can
confirm the death of just one adult cow to wolves! 4 or 5 yearlings
have been, however, and these weighed 400-600 pounds.

Mike Jimenez, who manages Wyoming
wolves outside Yellowstone Park, said he thought the wolves did pay
attention to injuries in cattle, especially calves that develop a limp or have a
sore from injury on a fence, etc., and that condition may predispose them to
attack. He indicated that the Sunlight Basin Pack and Absaroka Pack live among
the cattle east of the Park. He sees the packs sleeping among the cattle, and
cattle tracks over the den site, and yet this summer there was but one
depredation event -- 2 calves killed by the Absaroka Pack.

The fact that wolves and cattle
mostly coexist well, shows what a terrible thing it would be if ranchers got
authority to shoot wolves they saw near their cattle. Many ranchers believe that
if a wolf is in the cattle, it has but one thing in mind. They are clearly
wrong, but they have much more political power in the West than the average
citizen and could get what they want under the Bush Administration.

Secondly, I said that if wolves "did
see cattle as prey, there would tens of thousands of cattle dead by now, not a
couple hundred." Due to the larger size of cows than elk, I should probably say
"thousands," not "tens of thousands."

Finally it was suggested that
wolves may not see cows as prey because they smell artificial -- shot
full of antibiotics and other chemicals. With all the debate over conditioned
taste aversion, there is some low probability that smell, and perhaps taste
aversion, takes place informally.